MURDER MURDER & BLACK CONVERTIBLES | ascendants

[MirrorEdge]

The young Fireball had a tendency not to listen to anybody she didn't respect, and right now, Monroe didn't have a shred of her respect, insisting to be taken to the crime scene and demanding answers out of her. She had plenty of trouble listening to a good chunk of the high positions in the Ascendents as it was. She tilted her head, stubbornly refusing to say anything on it for now unless Bastille asked her. Or Riza. Either one worked. Both had more respect from her than these idiots.

"I don't think it's up to me, mister, though I'm not sure there would be much left to look over." Maybe a patch of bloodied ground, at most. Any Sunhaven, or, well, Thea's, scent, was washed away by the rains and the stream. Tena's words caused her eyes to narrow, but still, that ghost of a smile that was on her face at all times was there. Because if you smiled, it would be alright. It'd been forever since Thea remembered that, and as usual, she felt a bit calmer with doing so. Less of that unexplainable feeling of anger and even a twinge of fear that had managed to escape their prison inside her mind, feelings that were usually had no place with her were still there, poking here and there in the fragile place that was her mind.

"Are you calling me a liar, miss?"

Template by Quill

[Tena M.]

[div style="width: 527px; line-height: 1.4; text-align: justify; font-family: constantia; font-size: 11px;"]Tena Moonspinner —
"I'm saying you could be getting him wrong," she replied tonelessly, brows creased.  Unimpressed.  Irritated.  "Memory isn't perfect and like I said, there can be multiple cats who look similar in the world." Honestly.  She fought off the urge to roll her eyes.  Tena knew she should be a bit more tactful with her words sometimes, but she often did not like wasting her time.  "Unless there's other pieces of evidence; hard evidence, eye witness is not reliable.  Our eyes fool us all the time."

"… Memory is not reliable. The more time that's passed, the worse too.  We reconstruct and believe what we thought we saw, but in reality, it's not going to match perfectly and that can mean you're getting the wrong guy.  If your eyes are the best you've got, and some fur that just happens to match his color, I don't trust your verdict here. Why should I?  You're biased, you want him to be your culprit so you can dish out 'justice' or whatever.  Both your eyes and emotions out weigh your logic here."

And Buckingham seemed terrified.  Shaken up. Tena did not know him, or his character, but she was rather sure he was innocent.  He was not coming up with excuses or anything.  He did not know what was going on.  She frowned.  "Come up with real evidence, or let him go, or I'll make you." Her icy tone was more directed towards Riza, but the message was for every Ascendant.  She was glad she'd ended up coming here and not staying there aside from one visit.  It's simple logic, mousebrains.
[align=right]— I tell you this story, save your life, set you free

[Verdigris]

  [font=trebuchet ms]He resisted, of course. All prey, if not felled in a single strike, would resist.

  Caught up in the moment, Riza paid barely any mind to the pain erupting in her foreleg. She had felt worse pain, both physical and mental, than a few scratches to the limbs. He tried to scream, to protest that he hadn't killed anyone. Of course he would- a traitor would say anything to save their own skin- but Thea had spotted a chestnut-and-cream cat with a metal leg. Who else would that be referring to?

  She almost felt dizzy, as though the blood in her veins was being forcibly shifted around. Was that his work? Perhaps he had some level of knowledge on alchemy; though she did not know of any means to manipulate another person's blood, that didn't mean it wasn't possible.

  Unaware that she was beginning to hyperventilate, she struggled to maintain her grip on the culprit's throat. Regardless of what he would do to save himself, she would not let him get away with this unpunished. Regardless of the others' yelling, of the tail that smacked into her face, of the traitor's terrified gasps for air, of the strength swiftly leaving her body, she couldn't give up.

  "You're going to kill me!"

  She could kill him. This was not like her encounter with Lust, where she emptied three guns into the opponent's vital organs to absolutely no effect. This would not end with her screaming, begging her comrades to go, accepting that the best thing that she could do now was die. This would end in a victory, hollow and pointless as it was, because that was what she had promised Roy.

  She had promised she would never give up like that again.

  "It's your word against my clanmate's," she mouthed to Bucky, even as every inch of her body trembled from a conscious effort not to give out. The corners of her vision were darkening, her rational thought grasping helplessly at nothing. All she had to cling to was a promise, that she had made to the man she loved.

  "She says you murdered my husband, and I believe her."

  Despite her best efforts, her limbs gave way, and she crashed to the ground. The arguments overhead slowly faded into nothing as she attempted to get back up, to no avail. Even without the outside force holding her down, her entire body was leaden with what she could only assume was the side effects of abnormal blood pressure.

  Despite going in with a clear advantage, she had lost.

  Everything went dark.

[buckingham barnes]

With Bucky's vision clouding, the male barely caught the words Riza mouthed to him. She believes Thea's claims, and there's no way for him to change her mind. She was apparently the victim's wife, clearly driven by sorrow and vengeance. She thinks her actions are justified, that she will be bringing her late husband 'peace' for murdering the 'culprit'. His vision began to get darker, and the former assassin began to accept his fate. He's going to die here, he's going to die. While her grip is weakening, it's still enough to keep a domestic cat like Bucky down. There's no way he's getting out of her death grip- it will only be a few short moments until his body gives up on him.

But instead of seeing the Grim Reaper before his life force faded, Riza's grip suddenly failed. The moment her paw left his neck, the lioness crashing down beside him, oxygen rushed into his lungs. Except there was a little problem- Bucky had been deprived of air to the point that he was at death's doorsteps. Bucky breathed in too much oxygen, in a too quick amount of time. Buckingham's attempts to breathe quickly went south- turning rapid fast. Bloodshot eyes widened, the former assassin quickly exhaled more than inhale, unable to stop the pace. He was hyperventilating, without a doubt.

[rhosmari]

MONROE

MALE — SUNHAVEN — HELION — HARD

Very much he wanted to call her a liar to her face because he didn't believe a word of what she was saying right now. This was insulting and he didn't enjoy having one of them cross the border and attempt to murder one of their own on their doorstep. His eyes widened a bit though when she fell out right in front of them. Though a sense of almost amusement tinged his emotions before he turned to Bucky. He was sucking in air way too fast and he went over to the male, eyes shifting over him as he moved to attempt to place his paw on the male's chest, pressing in a little to force him to hold his breath for a moment. "Buckingham, calm down! Hold ya breathe for a moment then release and breathe in deeply." Worry was reflected in the male's voice simply because he could pass out from this and that wouldn't be good. Especially with the situation that was happening right now. He turned slightly and looked at the Ascendant members, a fierceness to his gaze before he lashed his thick finned tail in the air. "We ain't talking about this anymore. Ya can all see yaselves from our border and take ya fallen comrade with ya. Bastille, I will meet with ya later on tae deal with this but as it stands I ain't too happy with ya members even if grief had a role tae play in this." Turning a little bit he nodded to Tena before speaking up to the female. "Make sure they leave, watch them. I need tae tend tae him."

#psychosocial.

[BASTILLEPAW]

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BASTILLEPRISONER AURELIUS

BY THE GRACE OF THE FIRE AND THE FLAMES

[ inhales deeply and prepares to write a mcfuckin' novel for these two pages ]

Bastille cast a side-long glance at Thea, and simply offered a lazy shrug. Sure, they might be offended that they thought they might be housing a murderer, but in his experience the explanation that they had to take precautions was justification enough. Everyone on some level got the need to cover all of their bases, allies or not. Hell, he'd even gone to Snowbound in the past, knowing damned well Jake would never take his mentor, but knowing he had to check in there anyway. Maybe they'd heard something, maybe they knew. While he didn't actually suspect Sunhaven, it was possible they'd experienced recent deaths, too, if the murderer was lurking nearby. Or maybe they had a rogue member. Whatever. He saw no harm in asking.

Monroe and Quantum's arrival came neatly timed, and he offered a lazy nod to each in greeting. Quantum, he was fairly certain, was the new one replacing Jericho. Shame, that: he liked Jeri, though he was unfamiliar with this stranger, so he supposed he couldn't say he disliked his replacement. [b]"One of our own was murdered recently," he said, to the point, "Pipsqueak over here is the only one who saw it, so we're checking out the neighbors to see if you know anything." Not an accusation, and in fact he wasn't accusing them, anyway. He had no grounds to.

His gaze flicked lazily over Buckingham — a stranger to him — before he fixed his attention, briefly, on the next to arrive. Bast cocked his head to the side, distracted by the riddle; obviously it seemed to be a play on his name, which... how did he even know his name? He was faced with the disgruntling realization that Jeri — or this new leader, maybe — had possibly mentioned him by his full name in reference to leading the Ascendants, which was... Damn. How was he supposed to live life in relative anonymity if they all knew who he was? He couldn't deny all forms of authority like this. He gave a slight shake of his head, and huffed an amused, "He dies," in response to the riddle.

Bastille gave the snarky girl a dismissive glance, and didn't bother to point out that he rarely saw them outside of their territory, either. He didn't have the time for sassy apprentices; particularly not when he already had enough of them to deal with at home. Speaking of. He shot Thea a pointed look as she started mouthing off, about to tell her to shut it when her attention swiveled to Bucky. Bast's gaze followed, and he studied the stranger more closely as her accusation landed. There was no... shock, or anger, or even the flicker of someone who was caught. This guy seemed straight up confused, his aura flaring with the surprise, and it left a bitter taste in Bast's mouth. He wanted to feel immediate gratification in finding Roy's killer and bringing him to justice, but this response? Left more for him to question than it answered.

"Thea thinks she saw him kill Roy," he said, slowly, gaze still locked on Bucky as he studied him with intrigue. He didn't bother to ask Thea if she was certain, knowing fairly well that she would be too stubborn to admit that she might not know. His gaze did finally break away finally at the sound of Gor's voice, and he blinked at her for a minute before offered a half-smile. So, she'd found somewhere safe, after all; good. "Hey, Gor." He didn't restate the reason they were here, but instead just glanced away from her; this wasn't the place to catch up, even if he was curious to know how she'd been.

"So, you didn't—" he started to say, addressing Bucky, and then there was a burst of movement as Riza shot past him. Bastille paused, staring at her for a second, before he swore under his breath and took a step after her, snapping, "Riza, hey, we don't have any confirmation— Get the fuck off of him." Damnit. He knew bringing her along was a risk, but he also knew that if he hadn't brought her, she might have turned up on her own and attacked; at least he was gratified in knowing that he was here now to pull her the fuck off of him before she killed someone (which it sounded like she might, from Bucky's shrieking).

She went limp moments before he could drag at her, and with a huff Bastille lifted the unconscious Riza with a flare of air, tossing her back behind him. Maybe he could have been gentler with her, but she deserved it for losing her chill. Pale blue stare frosty with his vague irritation, Bastille eyed Bucky but made no move to go after the accused, instead lifting his gaze to Monroe as the leader stepped in to check that hyperventilation. Oh, so he'd been mistaken — this one was the new leader.

"She's right," he said, gaze flickering briefly to the one spewing shit about false memories and terrible eye witness identification, "He doesn't act like someone who killed Roy, and Thea's young. She could be wrong. I shouldn't have brought Riza, but I figured she might come after you on her own and we wouldn't have a chance to stop her then." Bastille gave a lazy shrug, evidently not too apologetic about the gamble he'd taken. They did manage to stop her, after all. "Regardless, apologies about her. I'll take care of her when she wakes up."

He shot a sideways glance at Thea, studying her for a moment, before he turned back to Monroe. Fair enough, but Bastille saw no point in fucking around with this bullshit any longer when they might solve it much quicker. "I could come back and we could debate about whether or not we can prove this based on a clump of fur and shortie over here's suspect testimony," he drawled, slowly, "Or this guy can let me see his memories from that day, and we can be over with it right here." He arched a brow, studying Bucky. "After he calms down, that is. I don't want to fuck up his health if he's innocent, either."

[B]ASTRAL SERAPH — THE ASCENDANTS — [color=#e2e2e2]TAGS — [color=#e2e2e2]MOODBOARD — [color=#e2e2e2]PLAYLIST

[buckingham barnes]

As soon as Monroe placed his paw on Buckingham's hyperventilating chest, the former assassin followed Monroe's instructions. Monroe is the head of the medicine guild, he's positive and trusts that the Helion knows what he's doing. He also didn't have much of a choice whether he wanted to hold his breath or not, Monroe was putting force on his chest. It was probably good that Monroe was doing that, otherwise Bucky would probably pass out. Which would be horrible, regarding the situation he's currently in. Bucky held his breath as Monroe instructed, only for a few moments before he slowly exhaled. He inhaled a deep breath, his breathing thankfully slowing down. He continued to take deep breaths until his breathing was finally back to what it should be. Glancing at Monroe for a moment, the former assassin said, "Thank you for your help, Monroe."

His gaze didn't stay on Monroe for very long, unfortunately. The Ascendants leader grabbed his attention, his eyes looking over at the feline. He was apologizing for Riza's behavior, mentioning she would have gone off to find Bucky herself if she wasn't brought along. It made Bucky wonder if she would dare to come back later on if this mess isn't solved. Bucky doesn't think he'll be able to stop a murder attempt if it's only him against her. And then, Bucky heard the words that should solve all of this. Should. "Or this guy can let me see his memories from that day, and we can be over with it right here." As he heard those words, a glimpse of paranoia could be seen in his eyes.

That should be a simple fix to this whole mess. Bastilleprisoner can get a look into his head, go through his memories to the specific day, and find out Bucky is telling the truth. He should say yes, fix all of this for himself, Monroe, Sunhaven, and the Ascendants. But there's one thing that no one knows about Bucky- his phobia of mental manipulation. Long story short, a guy awhile back got into Bucky's head and used mental manipulation to wipe every memory from his head. That guy got to rework the puzzle pieces, and made Bucky into a living weapon. He knows that he shouldn't be afraid that Bastilleprisoner will do the same thing. That Bastilleprisoner genuinely just wants to see his memory of the specific day. Even though he was brainwashed months ago, he can't shake this fear. If you say yes, then he can do whatever the hell he wants with your head. His paranoid thoughts said, getting the better of him. You don't want to be another asset, do you? Protect your mind! Refuse!

"I... I refuse." Bucky's drained words came out of his mouth, fear twisting into his tone. They probably all expected him to say yes, after how much he insisted he's innocent. They're all going to think he was just acting all along, even his clanmates! What the hell is he thinking? Fuck! "I don't give you the consent to go through my head."

[GORDON CIPHER.]

There was barely any time to react before Riza went after Bucky and Gordon instinctively hid behind Persephone, just as the she-cat had wanted her to. The Dawnguard poked her head out from behind the other female, watching the scene with wide-eyes. Bucky had killed somebody? Gordon's gaze flickered over to the male and she frowned in thought, watching his reactions. He... almost acted like he was guilty, but then again, he seemed like a good guy. Hell, from what she could tell, his aura didn't reveal any ill intentions at all.

"Bast won't hurt you," Gordon squeaked out to Buckingham, biting her lip slightly after she spoke. "H-he just wants to make sure you're innocent." She trusted her former leader, not only because he had led the clan she had once been apart of, but she knew that he was a good guy. Er, at least, that's what she always believed.

★ i am a lion born from things you cannot be ! ━

[Tena M.]

[div style="width: 527px; line-height: 1.4; text-align: justify; font-family: constantia; font-size: 11px;"]Tena Moonspinner —
The small feline squared her shoulders, frown deepening.  At least Bast seemed a sensible individual... Tena glanced at Bucky curiously.  Indeed, his aura gave off no ill intentions.  Just confusion and some panic.  She huffed quietly.  She wouldn't want anyone in her head either, no matter if they had good intentions.  Her mind was hers.  The thought made her skin crawl and she did not blame the already shaken Maine coon for denying permission.

"I think he's had enough for one day, don't you?" She kept her tone level as she could, trying to find a way to 'polite' through it all.  Afterall, nearly suffocating to death was, in her opinion, more than enough for a day, without adding the possibility of someone going into your head.  "He needs some rest, not someone in his head."

She couldn't imagine why anyone would think that's an okay thing.  Tena flicked her ear.  Sometimes... All one really had was their mind... Sometimes it was the only thing unchained...  She valued her freedom of thought for a long time, and now her freedom to talk - and boy did she like to speak her mind when she felt it necessary - she could not imagine ever willingly letting someone go into her mind, even for the truth.

What a strange place this was, where the thought of inviting someone in mentally was not considered entirely unusual.
[align=right]— I tell you this story, save your life, set you free